Pastwatch

The Redemption of Christopher Columbus

By: Orson Scott Card

Narrated by: Scott Brick, Christopher Cazenove, Gabrielle de Cuir, Arte Johnson, Moira Quirk, Stefan Rudnicki, Orson Scott Card

In a not-too-distant future that is not quite ours, there has been a major scientific breakthrough. It is a way to open windows into the past, permitting historical researchers to view, but not participate, in the events of the past.

In one of the most powerful and thought-provoking novels of his remarkable career, Orson Scott Card interweaves a compelling portrait of Christopher Columbus with the story of a future scientist who believes she can alter human history from a tragedy of bloodshed and brutality to a world filled with hope and healing.

©1996 Orson Scott Card (P)2005 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"A bold and compassionate alternative history filled with believable historical and fictional characters." ( Library Journal)

sodom and gomorrah SCI-FI style

This series is very entertaining, especially if you've studied the bible and enjoy SCI-FI. And I love the narrator.

Brilliant Book

I have been an Orson Scott Card fan for years, and I never thought he could top Ender's Game, but he has. What a unique, creative, and gripping story.

An incredibly entertaining, imaginative listen

Always like this author but the blend of history, socialogy, anthropology, and sci-fi was great! What the world might have been like if only a few little things had gone differently.

fun to listen to

the book was great. love to look at the what ifs of history and think about how things might have been with a few changes. as always the narrators did a fantastic job of endearing you to the characters.

every bit as good as I remember

I read this book in high school and loved it, now I loved it even more being able to hear it and not have to struggle with some of the pronunciations in my head. I would definitely reccommend it to any sci-fi or alternate history fan.

Columbus

It was entertaining. But a silly story. Still, it is worth a listen. Not a waste of time.

Got though it with enthusiasm

Was very interesting, history never came more alive to me. I like Science Fiction and when I started listening it turned into more of a history or altered history adventure and was not sure I would like it but I did. If you like time travel, check it out it will surprise you.

Wonderful alternate history

I didn’t think an alternate history story of Columbus would grab my attention, but that’s just an underestimation of Orson Scott Cards ability as a writer. This is one of his great standalone stories. Definitely worth a read

one more time

I have now listed to this book for the 3rd time. one of my favorites of all time.

Interesting Alternative History Time Travel Romp

After my experience with his Wakers, I'm glad I jumped back in to Card's bibliography and listed to Pastwatch. I found it to be a great time travel adventure centered around the great explorer and controversial historical figure, Christopher Columbus. The Audible production was excellent and featured seven narrators, including the author himself, for each of the different points of view.

This was written in 1996 and apparently supposed to be the first of a series of Pastwatch books but no others were written.

This novel is a mix of historical fiction centered around Columbus' life in the fifteen century with some near future time travel science fiction. Card takes us from Columbus' childhood until his famous 1492 voyage west and that's where the time travel kicks in. In the not too distant future humans have invented a method to view past events for historical research purposes until the technology is eventually advanced to the point where people can actually travel in time. The time travel group on earth discovers that alternate timelines can and have been created so a group of three time travelers are sent back to the Caribbean area in the Americas where Columbus is due to land in hopes of changing history - as in their (and our) time line humanity is facing natural disasters, and we all know how the history of the Americas was changed after 1492. The goal of the future time travelers was to create a time line which featured a stable civilization in the Americas driven by the native population rather than Europeans.

Card really develops his main characters well and gives us an interesting glimpse in to what Columbus' life was like. The chapters were long (at least in the audiobook) but jumped around from narrator to narrator often which kept the listening experience fresh. I'm not a huge fan of historical fiction but found these parts to be interesting due to the subject matter, and felt the novel really took off once Columbus reached the Caribbean and the time travelers started going to work. The novel focuses on its characters rather than the mechanics and technology of the time travel bits, as the science is left in the background and not explained very well. The story telling is what makes this novel great - it is really deep, there is much more to this than what appears on the surface, and Card really sweeps you away with his what-might-have-been scenario